The Sri Lanka Photo CD is now available – if you’d like a copy, please email your address to andrew.clipsham@hotmail.co.uk

The perfect start – a 4.5 hour delay	The Whalers make the most of it and head to the pub at Heathrow T4	No time was wasted at the airport!	The four hour delay final started to take its toll.	Happy to finally arrive in Sri Lanka, the Whalers become acquainted with the “Magic Sleeping Bus”
Dambulla welcome	The travel-weary Whalers settle down for their first meal in Sri Lanka	Checking out the grounds at our first hotel	Nets session at Dambulla	Monitor lizard
Dario getting carried away!	Elephant ride	The Whalers arrive at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium	Stumps	The Whalers inspect the pitch
And marvel at the wonderful surroundings	It probably wasn’t going to be a full house, but very impressive nonetheless	Team photo	The Whalers in Sri Lanka 2006	Ads takes the toss
The Whalers will bat first	Dambulla International cricket ground	Warming up	Duncs and Al walk out to bat	It’s a long way to the middle, and the grandstand offers great views
Ollie facing the “formidable” spin attack	Ollie fends one away	It’s a difficult day for the batsmen	Al and Ads look on from on high	A lovely shot from Ollie
A birds’ eye view of the action	Phil fends one off	Al at the crease	Al is watchful	Ollie shows good form
Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium			The teams at Dambulla	Whalers and Dambulla 1 XI
Proof we’re playing at an International Venue – for the first time in Whalers history	The Whalers outside the Stadium	Delight on a hot day when we flag down the ice cream man!	Off to the pool bar to contemplate where it all went wrong…	The pool bar provided the perfect setting for a game of 21s
More temples at Polonnaruwa	Ollie surveying a temple – yes, that’s a Panama…	Stupa	Dario next to (or in a) stupa	Bhuddist monk
View from the Dambulla caves	Buddha	En route to spot elephants	Found them!	Lots of them!
Keen to spot more elephants	More elephants!	A contented elephant spotting team!	This one looked disinterested…	…then headed straight for us!
“The Money Shot” – Ed can explain…	The local tipple	Cocktails (and beer) at the Kandalama Hotel	Floral display	Dambulla hotel goodbye
The Sygyria rock fortress	Sygyria	And again!	View from Sygyria rock	View from halfway up Sygyria
Sygyria rock art	Lizard	Andy surveys the view from Sygyria	On the way down	Another lizard enjoying the sun
Giant squirrel / greedy possum	Kandy Test Match	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan at Kandy	Not the best seats in the ground, but at 60p, no-one complains!	The Pakistani batsmen play well
The Pakistanis close in on the Sri Lankan total	The presentation. Sanath Jayasuriya retires from Test cricket and is presented with a golden bat	James driving at Victoria golf course, Kandy	Duncs tees off	The tension mounts…
Bath time at the Elephant Orphanage	More and more elephants come to the river	Elephants everywhere!	Having a good bath	Some of the elephants make a break for it!
Another tree with some interesting inhabitants	Bats in the Kandy Botanical Gardens	Kandy Botanical Gardens	Fielding practice ahead of the game in Kandy	Famous for a day! The local school kids come to us for autographs!
Fielding practice with the local school kids	Ollie taking notes…	The Team at St Anthony’s, Kandy. This is Murali’s old stomping ground.	Al presents our hosts with some mementos	Duncs punishes a loose ball
The Whalers watch on from the balcony	The teams in Kandy	Mike, our new friend from Kandy, invites us to his hotel for a cracking BBQ.	Our new beach-front hotel comes complete with a beach volleyball court	And the Whalers waste no time in getting to grips with this new sport
Ad’s (an ex county representative) shows us how its done	The Whalers prove to be fairly competent beach volleyball exponents	Honing talents in the glorious sunshine	Amazing tornado (and James’ sunburn!)	Inspecting the pitch at Galle – devasted by the tsunami a little over a year earlier
Team shot in front of the Dutch Fort	Team shot in front of the surviving Galle stand	Still smiling, even after two losses in a day!	Battle commences at Galle	We find the going tough
United Southern look to be stern adversaries	It soon becomes clear that we’re completely out-classed	Spectators at Galle	This really is a spectacular ground	And so is the action!
We have to contend with some excellent spin bowling	Historic and renowned settings	The batsmen struggle to make any headway against an excellent attack	The pace bowling is the fastest we’ve ever faced – four slips await…	Ed strikes a classic pose and looks to watch the ball racing towards the boundary – but what’s wrong with middle stump...?
View of the ground from the Dutch Fort ramparts	The Whalers pose with United Southern – unanimously declared the best team we have ever played - at Galle	No-one really knows what happened, but after a vicious attack by some frenzied dogs, Duncs shoe was eventually found stuck in this shrub – halfway down a cliff…	After much hilarity, the shoe is eventually recovered with the aid of a big stick	The Whalers explore the ramparts of the Dutch Fort
Galle sunset	Dario’s curry feast	The Whalers visit a school in the tsunami-hit part of Sri Lanka to do their bit for charity.	Waiting to hand out ‘school packs’ to needy kids	The girls file past to collect their packs
An orderly queue is formed	Paul starts to hand out the packs to the boys	Ed hands out school packs to the local kids	These boys are extremely grateful	All in all the Whalers managed to raise about £15k for Sri Lankans affected by the tsunami
Lots of packs for lots of children	Blazers for the school prefects	We also bought some sewing machines to help local industry	James hands over a sewing machine to a local lady	Next stop the beach, to hand over boats to local fishermen
The Whalers pose around one of their ‘named’ boats	One of our ‘named’ boats	The Whalers helped in providing 27 boats for local fishermen	Presenting the boats to local fishermen	They are extremely grateful – quite a humbling experience
Palm trees	A fisherman with his new boat	The boat presentation area	Exploring the local area	Dusk outside our beach-front hotel
“Lovers’ log”	The locals challenge the Whalers to a game of beach volleyball	A keen sporting contest ensues	The Whalers eventually triumphed by 2 games to 1	Enjoying the Hotel pool
Enjoying the Indian Ocean	Baywatch eat your heart out!	Evening draws in	The sun sets behind a palm tree	Sunset from the beach bar
Sunset	Just feet from our hotel	It’s a glorious evening	Beautiful	What, no groundsman? Overnight rain delays play in Columbo
Warming up in Columbo	Set an achievable target, the Whalers start well	The game hangs in the balance for a while	The Whalers look on – injured Duncs scoring	A lovely cut from Dario
More lovely strokeplay	Ed plays some expansive shots…	…But one too many!	Complete with stitches after mis-reading a bouncer, Phil shows great character to step out to complete his innings.	Sadly we fell shy of the target, and the tour would have no victories
The teams at Panadura SC, Columbo	We thank Amilah – our erstwhile tour guide	Despite the fact that this was his first cricket tour (he’s a bird watcher), Amilah did us proud	Dario is awarded muppet of the tour for batting for several overs without a box	Dario’s penalty!
Captain Ad is presented with a memento of the tour	Ad’s was thanked for his great effort in organizing the tour	Richard Giles is player of the tour	The Whalettes	The Whalettes are thanked for their excellent support throughout the tour
The beers start slipping away	Al and Andy enjoy the local nightlife	Phil and Rich are enjoying their last taste of Lion beer – Phil’s headache has clearly gone now!	Duncs trying his best to dance with a knackered knee	Shake that stuff Ads
Ads eventually manages to get the place dancing	Its been a long trip for some… probably time to go home.